270 PLUMBAGINACEjE. (LEADWORT FAMILY.) 



ORDER G9. PLUMBAGINACE^E. (LEADWOKT FAMILY.) 



Maritime herbs, chiefly stemless, ivith regular 5-merous flowers, a plaited 

 calyx, the 5 stamens opposite the separate petals or the lobes of the corolla, 

 and the free ovary one-celled, unth a solitary ovule hanging from a long cord 

 which rises from the base of the cell. The STATIC^ or MARSH-ROSE- 

 MARY TRIBE alone is represented in our region by the genus 



I. STATICE, Tourn. SEA-LAVENDER. MARSH-ROSEMARY. 



Flowers scattered or loosely spiked and 1-sided on the branches, 2 - 3-hractcd. 

 Calyx funnel-form, dry and mcmbranaceous, persistent. Corolla of 5 nearly or 

 quite distinct petals, with long claws, the 5 stamens attached to their bases. 

 Styles 5, rarely 3, separate. Fruit membranous and indehiscent, 1 -seeded, in 

 the bottom of the calyx. Embryo straight, in mealy albumen. Sea-side peren- 

 nials, with thick and stalked leaves ; the flowering stems or scapes branched 

 into panicles. (SrariK^, an ancient name given to this or some other herb, on 

 account of its astringency.) 



1. S. Limdllium, L. Leaves oblong, spatulate, or obovate-lanceolate, 

 1 -ribbed, tipped with a deciduous bristly point, pctioled; scape much-branched, 

 corymbose-panicled (l-2high); spikelets 1 - 3-flowered ; calyx-tube hairy 

 on the angles, the lobes ovate-triangular, with as many teeth in the sinuses. 

 Root thick and woody, very astringent. Flowers lavender-color. (Eu.) 



Var. CarolilliiYlia (S. Caroliniana, Walt., &c.), the plant of the North- 

 ern States, has a hollow scape, with more erect branches, at length scattered 

 flowers, and sharper calyx-lobes. Salt marshes along the coast, extending 

 northward (where it passes into S. Bahusiensis, Fries). Aug., Sept. (Eu.) 



ARMERIA VULOXRIS, the THRIFT of the gardens, is a native of Northern 

 Canada as well as of Europe, but not of the United States proper. 



ORDER 70. PRIMUlACELffi:. (PRIMROSE FAMILY.) 



Herbs, with opposite or alternate simple leaves, and regular perfect flowers, 

 the stamens as many as the lobes of the monopetalous (rarely polypetalous) 

 corolla and inserted opposite them on the tube, and a l-celled ovary with a 

 central free placenta rising from the base, bearing several or many needs. 

 Calyx free from the ovary, or in Samolus partly coherent. (Corolla none 

 in Glaux.) Stamens 4-5, rarely 6-8. Style and stigma one. Si-cds 

 with a small embryo in fleshy albumen, amphitropous and fixed by the 

 middle, except in Tribe 4. 



Synopsis. 



TRIBB I. PRIMUL.K.flE. Pod entirely free from the calyx, opening by valves or tooth. 

 * Stemlesa : leaves all in a cluster from the root. 



1. PUIMOLA. Corolla funnel-form or salver-shaped, open at the throat. Stamens ii: 



2. ANDKOSACE. Corolla short, constricted at the throat. Stamens included. 



